Plenum arrangement for an interior mounted condenser of a temperature control system

ABSTRACT

An interior mounted condenser for temperature control in a building has a condenser housing with an inlet opening facing into the building interior, an outlet opening communicating with an exterior outlet through an exterior wall of the building. A condenser coil and a fan are disposed in the housing. The condenser also has a plenum including an inlet section with an inlet end communicating with an exterior inlet section in the exterior building wall and an interior section that runs along an interior surface of the condenser housing. The interior section of the plenum communicates with the inlet opening of the condenser housing. The fan generates a flow of air from regions external of the building, through the inlet section of the plenum, through the interior section of the plenum, to the condenser coil in the condenser housing and subsequently through the exterior outlet section in the exterior wall.

This application claims priority on U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/736,667 filed on Sep. 26, 2018, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to temperature control system for a building and to a plenum arrangement for use with such a system.

2. Description of the Related Art

A temperature control system for a building includes a compressor or pump to move a refrigerant through an array of tubes. The two include a condenser coil that communicates with outside air to cause a heat exchange between the refrigerant in the tube of the condenser coil and the outside air. The system further includes an expansion valve and an evaporator to cause a heat exchange between the refrigerant and air inside the building that is to be cooled or heated. Tenants or owners of units in a multistory building expect an ability to control the temperature in their unit independently of other tenants or owners of units in the building.

To address this expectation, multi-story buildings often have a large number of condenser units mounted on the roof of the building, with each condenser unit dedicated to one unit in the building. Each condenser unit on the roof of the building has a condenser coil mounted in a housing. An air inlet is disposed on one side of the housing and an air outlet is disposed on the opposite side of the housing. A fan typically is provided to generate a flow of air through the housing and across the coil, thereby generating a heat exchange between the refrigerant in the coil and the external air that is caused to flow over the coil. The outlet tube from the condenser coil is routed from the roof of the building, through the walls of the building and to one of the units in the building. The tube then is routed to an evaporator unit associated with the respective unit in the building to generate another heat exchange that controls the temperature in the unit.

The above-described temperature control system generally works very well. However, there is a significant cost associated with routing the tubes through the walls of the building from the building roof to each particular unit in the building. Furthermore, there is a risk of damaging the tube due to maintenance or repair work performed in any of the units between the roof of the building and the unit that is intended to receive the benefit of the temperature control. Repair of a damaged refrigerant tube can be very expensive. Damaged tubing can cause a refrigerant leak that can be difficult to find because refrigerant has no odor. A refrigerant leak that remains undetected can be hazardous to building occupants. Additionally, the very long length of tubing between the roof of the building and the individual units results in inefficiencies because the refrigerant gains or loses heat between the condenser on the roof of the building and the evaporator in the building unit.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,174,740 shows one approach for addressing the above-described inefficiencies of a roof-mounted condenser in a multistory building. The system shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,174,740 has a compressor/condenser unit that is mounted in a building adjacent to an exterior wall. The compressor/condenser unit communicates with the exterior air via louvers that are arranged vertically relative to one another and that communicate with the exterior of the building. A fan is mounted in a housing inside the building and draws air through a lower set of louvers, through a condenser and back out through an upper set of louvers. The assembly shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,174,740 is very large and requires an arrangement of parts that is inconsistent with the typical condenser unit that is mounted on a roof of a building. The vertical arrangement of the inlet and outlet louvers also complicates the placement of the compressor/condenser unit in a building and would be aesthetically unacceptable in most situations. Large vertical louvers often are considered aesthetically unattractive to architects and this design has not been commercially successful.

The subject invention was made in view of the above-described state of the art, and an object of the invention is to provide an efficient temperature control system for a unit in a multi-story building that has an aesthetically acceptable appearance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an interior mounted condenser (heat pump and/or invertor) for a temperature control system of a building and to a plenum arrangement for such an interior mounted condenser. The condenser includes a condenser coil for accommodating a flow of a refrigerant through the coil. A fan is provided in proximity to the condenser coil and is operative to generate a flow of exterior air across the condenser coil in a system that may be part of an air conditioning system, a heat pump system and/or a system that uses a variable refrigerant flow invertor.

The condenser coil and the fan are mounted in a condenser housing that has opposite inlet and outlet surfaces, opposite left and right ends, a bottom and a top. The inlet surface of the housing has an inlet opening that accommodates a flow of air into the housing and toward the condenser coil. The outlet surface of the housing includes an outlet opening that accommodates an outflow of air that has been caused to flow across the condenser coil. The outlet surface and the outlet opening are positioned adjacent to an exterior wall of the building and communicate with an exterior outlet opening through the exterior wall of the building. The housing in one embodiment has a height from the bottom to the top of the housing that is less than the width of the housing and that is less than the height of a typical window sill in a building unit. The fan may be disposed between the condenser coil and the outlet opening in the housing. Thus, the fan generates a flow of air across the condenser coil and toward the outlet opening through the exterior wall of the building.

The condenser further includes a plenum with an inlet section that communicates with an exterior inlet opening that extends through the exterior wall of the building. The inlet section of the plenum then extends along one lateral end of the housing of the condenser. This inlet section of the plenum is disposed so that the exterior inlet opening through the exterior wall of the building and the exterior outlet opening through the exterior wall of the building are substantially adjacent to one another and at the same relative height position. Inlet and outlet louvers preferably are mounted at the respective inlet and outlet openings in the exterior wall of the building. The louvers are configured to permit a flow of air while preventing debris or animals from entering.

The plenum further has a section that communicates with the inlet section of the plenum, and hints with the exterior inlet opening through the exterior wall of the building. This section of the plenum extends from the inlet section of the plenum to the inlet housing of the condenser. Thus, a flow of exterior air can be generated by the fan through the inlet section of the plenum along the side surface of the housing, along the inner surface of the housing, into the inlet of the housing, across the coil and finally through the outlet opening in the exterior wall of the building.

The condenser of the subject invention has several advantages over the prior art. In this regard, the condenser of the invention does not require mounting on the roof of a multi-story building, but rather is mounted in or near the particular building unit that will receive the heating or cooling benefit of the condenser. Thus, the costs and complications associated with routing tubes from a roof of a multi-story building to a particular unit can be avoided entirely. Additionally, the condenser of the invention has a very low profile and can be mounted, for example, beneath a window in the building unit without a large projection into the building unit. The inlet to the condenser housing and the outlet from the plenum can be laterally adjacent to one another and at the same elevation. This achieves a small profile within the building unit and an aesthetically attractive appearance from the exterior of the building.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exterior view of the condenser mounted in an extra wall of a building and beneath a window sill of the building.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the condenser mounted in the exterior wall of the building.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the condenser mounted in the exterior wall of the building.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A condenser in accordance with the invention is identified generally by the numeral 10 in FIGS. 1-3. The condenser 10 is mounted within a building unit 12 in a multi-story building 14. More particularly, the multistory building 14 has an exterior wall 16 with an opening 18 having an exterior inlet section 20 and an exterior outlet section 22 horizontally adjacent to one another. Inlet and outlet louvers 24 and 26 are mounted respectively at the exterior inlet and outlet sections 20 and 22 of the opening 18, as shown in FIG. 2.

The condenser 10 includes a condenser coil 30, a fan 32 and controls 34. The controls 34 function to generate a flow of refrigerant through the condenser coil 30 and also function to control operation of the fan 32 for generating an airflow across the condenser coil 30.

The condenser coil 30, the fan 32 and the controls 34 are disposed in a condenser housing 40 that is positioned in the building unit 12 adjacent to the exterior wall 16 of the building 14. The housing 40 includes an inlet opening 42 facing toward the interior of the building unit 12 and an outlet opening 44 facing toward the exterior outlet section 22 of the opening 18 in the exterior wall 16 of the building 14.

The condenser 10 further includes a plenum 50. The plenum 50 includes an inlet section 52 with an inlet end communicating with the inlet section 20 in the opening 18 in the exterior wall 16 of the building 14. The plenum 50 further includes an interior section 54 that runs at least partly along an interior surface of the condenser housing 40, and hence along a part of the housing 40 facing into the building unit 12. The interior section 54 of the plenum communicates with the inlet opening 42 in the condenser housing 40.

With the above-described arrangement, the fan 32 generates a flow of air from regions external of the building 14 through the exterior inlet section 20 of the opening 18 in the exterior wall 16. This flow of external air continues through the inlet section 52 of the plenum and then through the interior section 54 of the plenum 50. The fan 32 then draws this flow of air through the condenser housing 40, across the coil 30 and then through the exterior outlet section 22 of the opening 18 in the exterior wall 16 of the building 14. Thus, the air undergoes a substantially 180° change in direction by flowing first substantially perpendicularly through the exterior wall 16 of the building via the inlet section 20 of the opening 18 in the exterior wall 16, along the interior section 54 of the plenum 50 in a direction substantially parallel to the exterior wall 16 of the building 14 and then in an outward direction across the condenser coil 30 and through the exterior outlet section 22 of the opening 18 in the exterior wall 16 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the exterior wall 16.

The invention achieves several advantages. In particular, the condenser unit can be mounted in or near a particular building unit 12 and at least partly on the interior of the building unit 12. Thus, long runs of tubing for refrigerant from the building roof are avoided completely. Second, the plenum directs air substantially horizontally from the inlet section 20 to the outlet section 22 without a significant vertical change in direction or position. As a result, the inlet and outlet louvers 24 and 26 can be aligned horizontally with one another and at a position, for example, beneath a windowsill in the building unit 12. The result is a pleasing architectural effect as illustrated in FIG. 2. Additionally, the condenser 10 can be structurally and functionally identical to the condenser units that typically are mounted on the roof of a multistory building. As result, existing equipment can be used without a significant engineering or design investment. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An interior mounted condenser for a temperature control system of a building (14), the building (14) having an exterior wall (16) separating a building interior from an exterior, the wall (16) having an opening (18) with an interior inlet section (20) and an exterior outlet section (22), the condenser comprising: a condenser housing (40) having an inlet opening (42) facing into the building interior and an outlet opening (44) communicating with the exterior outlet section (22), a plenum (50) including an inlet section (52) with an inlet end communicating with the exterior inlet section (20) in the exterior wall (16) of the building (14) and an interior section (54) that runs at least partly along an interior surface of the condenser housing (40), the interior section of the plenum (50) communicating with the inlet opening (42) of the condenser housing (40), a condenser coil (30) and a fan (32) disposed in the condenser housing (40), the fan (32) generating a flow of air from regions external of the building (14) through the exterior inlet section opening (20) in the exterior wall (16), through the inlet section (52) of the plenum (50) and then through the interior section of the plenum (50) to the condenser coil (30) in the condenser housing (40) and subsequently through the exterior outlet section (22) of the opening in the exterior wall (16).
 2. The condenser of claim 1, wherein the interior inlet section (20) and an exterior outlet section (22) all of the opening (18) in the exterior wall of the building (14) are laterally adjacent to one another.
 3. The condenser of claim 1, wherein the plenum (50) directs air substantially horizontally from the inlet section (20) to the outlet section (22).
 4. The condenser of claim 1, further comprising a control (34) that functions to generate a flow of refrigerant through the condenser coil (30) and also functions to control operation of the fan (32) for generating an airflow across the condenser coil (30). 